We move on with the coverage of our fourth custom contest, which had “Asia/Oceania” as the theme, meaning that only castings portraying cars from those regions were allowed to participate, this time with the Repaint class which, as its name implies, requires the custom to be completely refinished and also allows wheelswapping, general detailing, altering the car’s ride height and minimal modifications in order to accommodate accessories.

As stated in our rulebook, every class was judged under the principle that the participating customs had to stick to the contest’s theme. Having said that, we leave you with the entries for this class and their customizers. Down bellow you’ll find the winners of the first three places, with a small photoshoot of each, as well as commentary from our judges regarding why they won.

The two honorific mentions for this class went to José’s Hot Wheels Nissan 2000 Fairlady and the Custom Brothers’ Hot Wheels Nissan Skyline Z Tune; we also handed out a special Honorific Mention to recognize and encourage the interest of kids in this hobby to Leonardo’s Matchbox Holden Ute

Judges comment: The concept of Yami’s wagon is quite simple: a family car that has seen better days and is now an authentic barn-find, full of potential. Pay attention to the details that make this a true abandoned car, such as the smashed rear window still with a piece of wood in place, mismatched wheels and tires, the missing fender mirror, and a tire occupying the passenger seat, as well as other assorted components that once were on this car, littering its interior, which really add authenticity and realism to this custom, as mane left-for-dead cars also serve as storage for those things that never seem to have a place around the house. The effect of wear and tear in the paint is well achieved, including the primered door, although the corrosion and rust spots are somewhat symmetrical in both sides of the car.

Judges comment: Héctor’s WRX STI demonstrates that you don’t really need a complex concept to achieve an excellent custom; the Repaint class was full of customs that followed the same formula: paint, wheels and stance, just as several real cars that rely on a good set of wheels and a slight drop to look better than ever. What made Hector’s Subaru stand out was the excellent execution of the job throughout, with basically perfect paint, excellent detailing and a bit of camber in the very correct rolling stock. However, it was precisely that lack of a more defined concept, as well as lack of detailing in certain areas –mirrors, foglamps- that kept it away from first place.

Judges comment: Just as his Fugu Z cop car that won 2nd place in the Basic class, Ahmed built this late-70s Skyline as a tribute to the beloved Japanese cop car livery, not as a real patrol car, a concept that would be fubar’d immediately due to the Hayashi Street wheels –pried from an Aoshima-, the modern turret lights and the kanjis that simply read “Metropolitan Police” instead of the prefecture, as it should be in a real cop car. Instead, Ahmed gave us a Skyline that could be right at home in a “shakotan” meet in Japan. The execution is on par, with a well achieved two-tone, the antenna made with molten plastic, and the rooftop lights taken off a Tomica.